A LIFELINE IN THE HINTERLANDS

March 2011

The Lifeline Express is like no other train. Also called
the Jeevan Rekha Express, this Hospital-on-the-Rails completes two decades of
service in rural India this year.

Though the idea of providing medical
assistance via a train to underserved populations in the hinterlands was floated
in Nehru’s time, the infrastructure was not in place back then. Now, according
to Impact Foundation—which maintains the service along with sponsors like the
Rajiv Gandhi Foundation—India has a sprawling rail system comprising 70,000
kilometers of track, which support 11,000 routes and 7,000 sidings.

So
how does it work?

The Lifeline Express has four retrofitted coaches. The
first one functions as residential quarters for the staff, while the second
coach is used for working/changing by medics and paramedics, and as a ward for
patients. Operations and pre/post-ops are done in the next one. The last coach
is used for diagnostic tests, lab work and training. Once an area is chosen, the
Lifeline Express is parked at an accessible site for a month. The local
population is usually informed well in advance, and all patients are prescreened
at a clinic or hospital. Routine as well as major surgeries are performed on the
Lifeline Express.

How well does it work?

Well enough that
similar projects were started in China, Bangladesh, Cambodia and parts of
Africa. In India so far, about 85,000 operations have been performed on the
Lifeline Express and over 600,000 patients have received treatment.

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